SIL Ratings for Fire & Gas Systems – Are We Barking Up The Wrong Tree?
Paul Gruhn – ICS Triplex
Current standards covering fire and gas systems are prescriptive and focused for commercial applications. Many users believe there is a need for performance based standards for such systems used in industrial applications. However, there is considerable debate whether fire & gas systems should have SIL (Safety Integrity Level) ratings at all. Vendors are naturally interested in promoting certified hardware in order to differentiate their products. Yet considering the differences between safety instrumented systems and fire & gas systems, focusing on the performance of the actual fire & gas hardware alone may be a misleading and questionable practice. This paper reviews a) the differences between safety instrumented systems and fire & gas systems, b) how typical voting of fire & gas sensors not only reduces nuisance trips (which is desirable) but also reduces the likelihood of the system meeting the performance target and actually responding to a true demand (which is not desira ble), and c) why concepts and standards that apply to safety instrumented systems may not be appropriate for fire & gas systems.
The above topic will be presented as the keynote address by Paul Gruhn of ICS Triplex at the upcoming Safety Control Systems Conference in Calgary on May 11-13 2010.
IDC Technologies is proud to host the Canada’s foremost gathering of Safety Industry Professionals. This conference is committed to bringing you the latest information in the area of safety with an impressive selection of local and international speakers lined up.
This conference will focus on the technology and application of safety-related control and instrumentation systems in the chemicals, energy, mining and manufacturing industries. It will examine the complex and challenging issues of using control systems technology to maintain and improve the safety of people and plant whilst ensuring profitability.
We welcome our two keynote speakers Mr Edward Marszal, President of Kenexis Corporation from the USA who is an ISA Fellow and former Director of the ISA Safety Division and safety expert Mr Paul Gruhn, Training Manager at ICS Triplex, ISA contributor/author and household name in the global safety industry. Both Edward and Paul will be presenting a half day pre-conference workshop on the 11th May 2010.
You will also hear from FSE Global, Exida, Fluor, Hinz, ACM Facility Safety, Alberta Oilsands SAGD Project, Stantec Consulting, SNC-Lavalin Inc, Worley Parsons, Combustion Solutions Inc and ABB Canada.
Click here to download the event brochure & registration form:
http://idc-online.com/newsletters/brochures/1005_SAFETY.pdf
CONFERENCE AGENDA:
DAY 1: Tuesday 11th May 2010HALF DAY WORKSHOP 1 – 11th May 2010
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Safety Systems, and Then Some
Presented by Paul Gruhn, ICS Triplex
HALF DAY WORKSHOP 2 – 11th May 2010
Risk-Based Fire and Gas Detection and Suppression System Assessment
Presented by Edward Marszal, Kenexis Consulting DAY 2: Thursday 12th May 2010
Session 1: KEYNOTE SIL Ratings for Fire & Gas Systems – Are We Barking Up The Wrong Tree?
Paul Gruhn - Training Manager, ICS Triplex
Session 2: The Fundamentals of LOPA and their Practical Implementation
Peter Scantlebury - Principal Consultant, FSE Global – Canada
Session 3: Making the Most of Alarms as a Safety Layer of Protection
Todd Stauffer - Director – Alarms Management Services, Exida
Session 4: A Cookbook of SIS Experiences and Tid-Bits in the execution of the Safety Requirements Specification (There's many a slip 'twixt crouch and leap)
Simon Lucchini & Stephen Johnson - Chief Controls Specialist & Principal Process Specialist (Risk), Fluor Canada Ltd
Session 5: Users Need Detailed Reliability Analysis Not Just Numbers
Feng Tao - Project Engineer, Hinz
Session 6: CASE STUDY Fire Detector Coverage Mapping for Improving Existing Systems
Edward Marszal - Principal Engineer, Kenexis
Session 7: Linking Business Operations with Safety Operations – in Real-Time
Murray Macza - General Manager, ACM Facility Safety
Session 8: CASE STUDY Safety Instrumented Systems: Why Not Take Advantage of SIL-Rated Fire Panels?
Foungnigue Coulibaly - Automation Engineer, Alberta Oilsands SAGD ProjectDAY 3: Thursday 13th May 2010
Session 9: Best Practices in SIS Documentation from P&ID through SRS
Edward Marszal - Principal Engineer, Kenexis
Session 10: Comparison of Safety Categories, Performance Levels and SILs for Machine Safety Control Systems
Raj Sohal, Industrial Safety Controls Specialist, Stantec Consulting Ltd.
Paul Brzustowski, Team Lead – Industrial Safety Engineering, Stantec Consulting Ltd.
Session 11: CASE STUDY Application of SIL principles where the potential for conflict exists for the Functional Safety Engineer
Blair Robichaud - Automation Project Lead, SNC-Lavalin Inc.
Session 12: A Carrot-or-Stick Approach to the Economics of Safety
Stejarel Achimescu-Gulian - Senior Automation Engineer, Worley Parsons Canada
Session 13: Things to Consider when Selecting a Safety Instrumented System
Paul Gruhn - Training Manager, ICS Triplex
Session 14: CASE STUDY IEC 61511 for the Design of Burner Management and Combustion Control Systems
Sean Carron - Engineering Manager, Combustion Solutions Inc.
Session 15: Functional Safety Management Systems for Compliant and Efficient Implementation of Safety Instrumented Systems
Edgar C. Ramirez - Safety Systems Business Driver, ABB Inc.
Session 16: Better Good Than Lucky: Choosing a Personnel Functional Safety Certification Program
Sam Kozma - Managing Director, Exida Canada Ltd
5:00-6:00 – Cocktail Hour - For all attendees to meet and socialise with experts and industry peers at the Safety Control Systems Conference Cocktail Hour.
For Further information on conferences or sponsorship opportunities, please contact Sarah Montgomery: [email protected]
